Texas judge grants pregnant woman’s request to get an abortion

A Texas judge on Thursday granted an emergency order allowing a pregnant woman whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis to obtain an abortion in the state.

Late last month, Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from the Dallas area and about 20 weeks pregnant, discovered that her developing fetus has trisomy 18, a rare chromosomal disorder that is likely to cause stillbirth or death of the baby. shortly after birth.

Texas law prohibits almost all abortions with very limited exceptions. So, on behalf of Cox, her husband, and her doctor, attorneys from the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a temporary restraining request that would block state abortion bans in Cox’s case and allow him to terminate her pregnancy. .

The 459th District Court of Travis County in Austin, Texas, on December 7, 2023. Suzanne Cordeiro / AFP via Getty Images

“Kate Cox’s life and future fertility are at great risk and, according to her doctor, the medical care she needs is an abortion,” Molly Duane, senior attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said at the hearing.

Cox’s two children were born by C-section, so carrying this pregnancy to term and having a third C-section could put her at risk “for multiple serious medical conditions, including uterine rupture and hysterectomy.” the center said Tuesday when he announced the lawsuit.

Duane said during the hearing that Cox was “at high risk for multiple pregnancy complications, including hypertension, gestational diabetes and infection,” and that In the past two days, she had to visit an emergency room for the fourth time “for pregnancy symptoms including severe cramps, fluid loss, and elevated vital signs.”

“Many of the risks to Ms. Cox’s health during this pregnancy will be life-threatening if untreated, and carrying this pregnancy to term will significantly increase the risks to her future fertility, meaning it is possible that she and her husband cannot have more children. in the future,” Duane said.

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble quickly granted the requested order.

“The idea that Ms. Cox desperately wants to be a mother and that this law could cause her to lose that ability is shocking and would be a true miscarriage of justice,” the judge said.

Johnathan Stone, an attorney with the Texas attorney general’s office who represented the state at the hearing, argued that Cox and her husband had not sufficiently shown that they would suffer “immediate and irreparable harm” without an abortion. Instead, Stone pushed for an evidentiary hearing, saying an emergency court order would allow the couple to have an abortion that “cannot be undone” before the court could fully consider the evidence.

Neither the Texas attorney general’s office nor the state’s medical board immediately responded to a request for comment on the judge’s decision.